Sunday, October 6, 2013

Demonstrators speak out against new store in mall

Demonstrators speak out against new store in mall

About 70 Toledo area residents protested at the
Westfield Franklin Park Mall on October 5, 2013. The mall signed a new lease with
Michigan’s largest chain and supplier of
puppy mill dogs – The Family Puppy. The store has a history of working with bad
commercial breeders with violations to the Animal Welfare Act. Even when the
federal inspector tells them to treat an animal in pain in suffering, they
ignore the inspector. These breeders do not listen to The Family Puppy – they
don’t’ care about their standards. The store ends up dropping the breeder
because we exposed them, not because of the violations.

Contrary
to The Family Puppy’s claim that “we only use
breeders that will meet our standards, and those standards are above those of the
Animal Welfare Act”, 14 of the 16 primarysuppliers have been cited for violations to the Animal Welfare Act and many have been
chronic offenders.Some violations
include shelters with temps exceeding 87 degrees, excessive feces, no heat,
unlicensed personnel performing surgeries, unattended bite wounds, poor
ventilation, feet dangling in wire floors, dirty dogs, accumulated grime and
lack of veterinary care.

The
Family Puppy states they know how to screen a breeder because the co-owner has
“been working with breeders for 35 years”, yet neither owner carries any
professional credentials in the fields of animal husbandry and disease
control.The majority of Indiana USDA
Licensed breeders - who on average, house 52 animals with 8-16 different breeds
- also lack professional credentials in these fields.

According
to recent inspection reports, two primary suppliers for The Family Puppy are
not adhering to directives from federal inspectors or following rules as
mandated under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA):

In 2012, The Family Puppy’s
largest supplier, Marlin Bontrager of Rome City IN, was cited for direct
veterinary care violations and when the inspector returned there were six
more violations including more veterinary care related violations.

Two other main suppliers,
Lavern Whetstone of GoshenIN and Verlyn Weaver of TopekaIN, were cited for not seeking
veterinary for animals that were in pain and suffering. Whetstone was told
by the federal inspector to seek veterinary care and the kennel instead
had a “non-professional” remove the membrane of a dog with cherry eyes.
Weaver was cited for a pregnant dog with a build up of thick dark crust on
her teeth. The store continued to work with both breeders despite these
continued violations.

Jean Keating from the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates is leading
the campaign to block The Family Puppy from expanding in Toledo. Here is a link to
her interview with Channel 24 at the protest.